Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Behavioral Assessment of Manual Dexterity in Non-Human Primates
Published on: November 11, 2011
Social roles in captive vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus)
L A Fairbanks1, M T McGuire, N Page
1Sepulueda Veterans Administration Hospital, Sepulueda, Calif. 91343, U.S.A.; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Neuropsychiatric Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Calif. 90024, U.S.A.
Abstract:
Behavior clusters were identified through factor analysis of individual behavior profiles over time and across groups of different composition in a captive vervet monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus) colony. The six resulting factors were assessed through examination of (1) the behaviors contributing to each factor, (2) the properties of the factors across groups, and (3) the distribution of individuals along the factor dimensions. Three of the clusters were judged to represent the social roles of Control Male, Control Female, and Subordinate and the other three described the behaviors associated with the developmental stages of yearling (Playful-Protected), juvenile female (Infant focus) and juvenile male (Sex-Play).
Related Concept Videos
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Epiphytes, Parasites, and Carnivores
Naturalistic Observations
Role-Based Identity
Symbiosis
Parental Care

